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Trams, light rail or giant buses?

Georgina Robinson | June 5, 2008 - 11:22AM

A $2 million mass transit study will decide whether
inner-Brisbane gets a network of trams, light rail or giant
buses.

Premier Anna Bligh and Brisbane Lord Mayor Campbell Newman today
separately announced a full scale feasibility study into setting up
a rapid transit network to service a route between West End and
Newstead.

Cr Newman said he favoured the giant buses option, which was
outlined in an options paper a Liberal councillor undertook last
year.

"The conclusion from the options paper was that a bus rapid
transit system could be implemented quite quickly, that it could be
done for under $100 million, as opposed to $600 million for light
rail," Cr Newman said.

The study, funded equally by council and the state government,
was expected to take between nine months and a year, Cr Newman
said.

Also today, the Lord Mayor christened the 12th and latest City
Cat to hit the Brisbane River, which will add nine new services to
the network each day.

"This craft today will carry 162 people, it does 27 knots it
will add another nine services to each City Cat location," he
said.

One more City Cat will arrive in August or September and a new
council contract will guarantee delivery of at least six more
vessels over the next four years, he said.

Labor councillor and former public transport chair, Victoria
Newton, said the prospect of their retirement was worrying.

"At the moment the City Cat system is already leaving people
behind," Cr Newton said.

"We need to increase the fleet to meet demand, we've got the
Lord Mayor talking about increasing densities along the river so
it's going to vital to make sure that the net number of City Cats
on our river is increased not decreased."

But Cr Newman said council would make sure there was no
shortfall.

"The bottom line is we've made a commitment to have a fleet and
we will have a fleet of a certain size and it's a minimum of 19, as
I said during the election campaign, and we're not walking away
from that at all," Cr Newman said.